Spaghetti and Meatballs

I recently posted a delicious 3 ingredient Spaghetti Sauce that has received really good reviews from folks. I was asked if I could provide a meatball recipe to go along with it, and I thought, of course I can. Naturally I had to make it first, so I've been enjoying this dish for several days. Hope you like it.

One thing about meatballs, I don't like meatballs that are hard, or tough, or overcooked etc. Usually this comes about by rough handling when shaping, or frying or baking first before adding to a sauce. The secret to delicious melt in your mouth meatballs is to treat it gently and to cook the meatballs in the sauce, not pre-cooked or fried.

I hope you like this recipe. It's awfully good, and like I said, you can't beat the sauce. (Here's the recipe for the 3 ingredient  sauce as well as my slow-cooker recipe)

Ingredients and Method:
1 cup Breadcrumbs

1/3 cup milk

8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork

1 cup ground Parmesan Cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

2 eggs (beaten)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced, or pressed


Mix milk and breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Set aside

Place beef and pork to a bowl and add cheese, salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, nutmeg and beaten eggs.

Drain milk from breadcrumbs and add to meat mixture.

Mix all ingredients together gently by hand. Try not to compress or squeeze the meat mixture. You're trying
to just combine them thoroughly and yet keep a "looseness" to the meat.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes so it will be easier to shape into meatballs.

Shape into meatballs about the size of a golf ball using a gentle touch. Add directly to cooking sauce 30 minutes before the sauce is done. (If making slow cooker sauce, then add the meatballs one hour prior to
the end of the cooking cycle.)

I made this with my 3 ingredients spaghetti sauce, and dusted it with shaved Parmesan. It was delicious.

Enjoy!

Smoked Paprika Roasted Cornish Game Hen

So a blog follower friend of mine at work was telling me about a stew that she made over the weekend and how she used a spice she hadn't used before called Smoked Paprika. The following morning I came into work and a little baggie with two tablespoons of Smoked Paprika was sitting on my desk. (Thanks Mary Ellen)

Over the weekend I was determined to try the spice in a dish but didn't feel like having stew. In searching for uses for Smoked Paprika I came across a recipe at Simply Recipes that used the spice as a rub for chicken and decided to try it. (Thanks Elise) I decided not to go the rub route, I wanted to baste the bird during the roasting process.

Since I was cooking for one I decided to go with a Rock Cornish Game Hen. I've always loved game hens just haven't made them that often.

I have really no reason for posting this photo except hens and chickens just look funny when photographed like this. Sorry, makes me laugh.

When I finished baking the bird, I made some balsamic glazed carrots and sat down to eat.

Every once in a while, ya know how you make something and you think, "Oh My God, this is so good I will be making it regularly from now on" That is how good the glaze and Cornish Game Hen tasted. I was totally blown away and will probably get into more recipes that contain my new friend, "Smoked Paprika"

Please try it, you will love this recipe:

Ingredients and Method:

1 or 2 Cornish game hens, completely thawed
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or lime juice)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
pinch of salt

Rinse the game hen thoroughly and pat dry.

Cut lemon in half, sqeeze out two tablespoons and scrape for 1/2 teaspoon zest. Place half
the lemon inside the game hen.

Combine honey, lemon juice, zest, butter, paprika and salt in a small dish and stir well.

Baste the hen with the paprika mixture.

Place in roasting pan and roast at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 175 degrees.

Important: While baking re-baste with paprika mixture 4 or 5 times. The more the better as it will tend to build up a nice coating.

Remove hen from oven, let sit for at least 10 minutes. Dig in and enjoy. This is SO good, trust me.

Maui Ribs

So the search continues to try and duplicate the delicious Hawaiian food I had with my son in Corvallis at Local Boyz. I made Shoyu chicken which was very good and very close to the shredded chicken we had there. But the main item we're trying to duplicate here are the ribs. They were thin, almost boneless, and absolutely delicious. We fought over them to see who could have the last one. They were dark, and pungent, and sweet, and savory all at the same time. I've never tasted a rib like it. I also had no clue as to what cut of meat it was.

So here's what happened. Someone posted a comment anonymously on my Shoyu chicken recipe and mentioned my description of the ribs reminded him or her of Azeki's ribs in Maui. This led me to begin searching Maui Ribs, Azeki's etc. and I think I've figured it out.

Here's the deal. The meat is Korean Beef Short Ribs (cut "Flanken" syle). The sauce is a basic sauce of soy, sugar, etc. with a healthy dose of sesame oil. (Recipe below) And I believe one strong component that makes these so delicious is they are marinated for FOUR days! Yeah, four days.

So although I've posted this recipe, the ribs just started marinating tonight, so I will amend it and complete it on Sunday.

Marinade:

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 oz fresh ginger minced
5 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 cups brown sugar

Place mixture in a large freezer bag with the ribs and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 days, turning every so often.

After two days, it looks like this:

After 4 days, remove from marinade and pat dry. Grill on Barbeque over low heat as the marinade will burn quickly if the heat is too high. There is no need to baste the meat while
cooking as it is just fine as is.


Try to grill until the sugar in the marinade begins to "crust" up.

Enjoy! These are delicious!!!!

Slow Cooker Shoyu Chicken

So, I have a son who attends Oregon State University. I went to stay with him last weekend at his off campus house as we attended my daughter's deployment ceremony.

One day, he decided we should have lunch at some place in Corvallis, Oregon called Local Boyz. I obviously was hesitant being the gourmet kind of guy I am (cough!) but agreed. Needless to say, we drove to some hole in the wall place, that was on the second floor of some structure not even part of a strip mall. 12 tiny tables, water jugs and glasses, and a line out the door. I was dubious. We ordered a combination plate which consisted of macaroni salad, rice, soy chicken, steak tips, and Hawaiian BBQ small ribs. It was................. wait for it............... fabulous!

I told my son I will try to find and duplicate the food we had that day.

I will kill to get the BBQ recipe for those ribs, but have been unsuccessful so far. (Ok, I wouldn't actually kill, but maiming is not outside the realm of possibility, they were THAT good) The first thing is, the "ribs" are a very thin cut of pork (oops, update, just found out it's beef!) with small bones showing and I can't find that cut of meat, much less duplicate the sauce.

That being said, I DID find a number of recipes for Soy Sauce chicken, or Shoyu chicken and took the best of each and adapted it to this rendition. (See link for the main one Food Network)


So please try and enjoy this recipe. It really is simple, easy, and delicious.

Ingredients and Method:

6 - 12 chicken drumsticks (larger ones are perfect)

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups soy sauce

3 cans chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup pineapple juice

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

chopped green onion for garnish

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 water

Combine all ingredients except green onion, cornstarch and water in slow cooker. Rinse the drumsticks and add to cooker.

Cook on high for 4 hours.

After about 3 hours you should see the meat falling from the bones in the crockpot. Remove all the chicken drumsticks and debone. At this time skim some of the fat and any stray ginger you might come across from the crockpot and discard. Return the chicken to the broth, and continue to cook for one hour.

During the last half hour, take 4 tablespoons of corn starch, dissolve in a half of cup of water and stir into the crockpot and leave on high for the last half hour stirring occasionally to thicken the sauce.

Serve warm over freshly cooked rice garnished will the green onions. This tastes even better the next day after it's steeped overnight.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Balsamic Spaghetti and Meatballs

I've been making spaghetti sauce all my life. Every conceivable type of ingredients, with meatballs, without meatballs, with olives, without olives, with mushrooms, without mushrooms etc. etc. etc. And don't even get me started on spices which are an inexhaustible number of combinations.

All that being said, this is a "middle of the road" recipe in that it's NOT totally from scratch, thereby making it easier to throw together, yet offset with some quality ingredients and cooking times that make it extraordinarily good tasting. And this is, for what it's worth, the product of many instances of making my own sauce.

By the way, DO pay attention to cooking times. I finally figured out that it IS possible to overcook spaghetti sauce. I spent the longest time thinking the longer you slow-cooked a sauce the better it must be right? And then one time, I was in a hurry, and only cooked a sauce for 4 hours. Oh my gosh, it was good. The sauce was brighter, both in color and taste, had a "tang" to it that was delicious, and overall tasted "fresher" if you know what I mean. I believe cooking too long will begin to break down components of the tomato and render it overcooked and somewhat drab in flavor.

The particular recipe here has a mixture of ingedients that create a unique combination of flavors that are complex, yet robust and tangy and deliciously offset with an italian cheese topping. Do give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Ingredients and Method:

1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
5 - 6 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 shallot, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 28 oz can quality diced tomatoes with sauce. (It's ok if it contains spices)
29 oz of quality tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
2 tablespoons spaghetti seasonings
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
3 bay leaves
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 package frozen fully cooked Italian meatballs (such as mama lucia)
1 tablespoon salt

In a medium saucepan over medium heat saute onions, shallots and garlic in olive oil until soft and becoming translucent

Meanwhile in slow cooker, add ALL the remaining ingredients EXCEPT salt and balsamic vinegar! (Gotta show off my new toy)


Add the sauteed vegetables on top. Stir thoroughly once. Cover. If your slow cooker vents slightly during cooking, that's great. If it doesn't you may want to prop it open slightly so it will as you want the sauce to thicken slightly. (Besides, don't ya want to smell it as it cooks?) If you can't do that or don't want to, don't worry, just let it cook the last hour uncovered.

Heat on HIGH for 90 minutes. Then heat on low for 4 hours. (I know I said 4 hours total, but you got to get it up to cooking temp first, sheesh, trust me) And if you can avoid it, do NOT uncover while cooking.

With one hour to go, add the salt and the balsamic vinegar, stir, cover, and complete the cooking process. The reason you add the Balsamic last is you want the Red Wine vinegar to permeate the sauce first, and then "freshen" the sauce the last hour with Balsamic.

Meanwhile, prepare your pasta, and get ready to enjoy one great tasting sauce. Top with whatever Italian/combination cheese you like, but I still say, ya can't beat basic, good ole shredded parmesan.

It's THAT easy...... and it is one GREAT sauce....

Enjoy!

p.s Makes GREAT Italian Meatball Sandwiches the next day too!

Country Bob's Sauce

So a couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a gentleman named Al Malekovic
who, it turns out, is part owner of a company called Country Bob's whose products are All Purpose Sauce for Steak and Hamburgers, etc. as well as Seasoning Salt and Barbeque Sauce.

He wrote and asked if I would consider using the sauce and reviewing it on my site. Naturally, I said yes and was happy to do so. And honestly, since my site is a fairly new one, I was pleased that someone has visited it and chosen to make me the offer. (See their link at the bottom of the page)

A few days later in came the package with two bottles:

So I promptly opened up a bottle, and took a whiff, and thought.... "Hmmph, steak sauce, smelled just like A-1" so no great shakes there.

But true to my word, a few days later I grilled a nice piece of NY Strip, just used the sauce as an accompaniment.

Now let me tell you straight up. I cannot be bought, I'm not swayed easily, I speak my mind and say what I think.

This sauce is GOOD! Very good. It does smell like A-1 at first, but it in no way tastes like it. A-1, in my opinion has always had a slightly bitter aftertaste that stays on your tongue. I feel the same about Heinz 57 sauce.

Country Bob's sauce is tangy, a bit sweet, and very savory, without any after taste. I REALLY liked it on my steak.

Now I know, that's a "busy" photo, but man what a great meal, baked potato, sour cream, shredded cheddar, some spinach souffle, medium rare NY strip, dipped liberally throughout the meal in Country Bob's all purpose sauce. I was a satisfied consumer, believe me.

BUT, we're not done! Oh No.....we got more.....!

I love baked beans. I usually buy New England Baked Beans, and touch them up myself with mustard, ketchup, brown sugar and Worchestershire sauce, and then cook them slowly for a couple of hours. Been doin' that for years.

Yesterday, just took some beans and slathered some Country Bob's on them, mixed them up, and baked on low for two hours..... Delicious!!!!

Here's what it looked like before I stirred the sauce in and baked them in an ovenproof dish....


I then decided to make meatloaf. I don't eat meatloaf often, although I do like it, but once I've had meatloaf, it seems like I have tons of meatloaf left over and don't want it anymore. (It's a lot like Easter Peeps, I love Easter Peeps, but once I have them a time or two, I, uh, don't need to see them for another year)

So I made meatloaf with Country Bob's sauce. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion (I used a cup of Walla Walla sweets)
12 saltine crackers, crushed
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce
1/4 cup milk
1 T. Country Bob's Season Salt (of which I had none, so I used regular seasoning salt)
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Combine the ground beef, onion, cracker crumbs, eggs, Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, Country Bob's Season Salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Shape into a loaf and place in a baking pan. Spread the desired amount of additional Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce on top of the loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until the loaf is cooked through. Remove the loaf and let stand for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Now let's face it, there is a basic problem with photographing meat loaf. The problem is: It's MEATLOAF! Not a very attractive subject. Nonetheless, I did my best:



Actually, this looks pretty good. The meatloaf was gone a week ago, I think I'm ready for some more.

Now, I thought, I got one bottle left, let's try it on a burger..... A Grilled burger from the barbeque..... Here it is, and it was delicious!

By the way, that is Provolone on my burger. Yeah, I'm a cheddar guy, but Provolone is great on a burger, try it if you haven't.

So now, lastly, if you look at the bottle and read it carefully, it says:

See how it's called All Purpose Sauce? And then it says under that Steak, Hamburger....

And one line lower it says Chicken? I thought, no way. I see the sauce with beef and pork, but not chicken, couldn't possibly be good. But, being the test subject that I am, I decided to barbeque a huge chicken breast, with a little skin left on, and the ribs intact, and do nothing but baste it with Bob (as I now call him) while it grilled.

Here ya go:

I cannot tell you how good this was. Perfectly done chicken, juicy, with a tangy delicious crusty outside. Bob is my friend, I shall cook with him from now on. For all I know, this stuff is great on pancakes too!

Thanks Al!

So here's how you get Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce....

1. You could start a food blog and beg Al Malekovic to give you a free sample to try. Al's Email
2. You could always buy some....that might be the better way to go.... Country Bob's Website

All I can say is, seriously, I am buying this sauce from now on. I wonder if they sell it in my area? Hmm..... Al, you market in Seattle?

My thanks to them for letting me participate.

Ron Merlin

Recipe - Balsamic Steak Sauce

The only sauce we use on steak for 15 years now. Delicious..........

When I say delicious, I mean the best ever! Please try this and
give me your feedback. Also great on pork and chicken.

30 min | 15 min prep

SERVES 2 -3

• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons  balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar (brown or white, I prefer brown)
• 2 tablespoons shallots

1. Mince shallots (3).
2. Place butter in pan over medium heat and saute shallots until clear.
3. Add sugar and balsamic vinegar.
4. Bring to boil and stir until sauce thickens slightly and turn to very low.
5. Immediately ladle over freshly grilled steaks.

OK, so that was easy wasn't it? A little light reduction sauce to put on steaks
right?

I could show you a photo of the sauce when done, but it's a dark looking sauce because
of the Balsamic Vinegar....still wanna see it? ok




Just a plain looking dark sauce....

But the taste of this when poured over a steak is just heavenly.....the shallots, the butter, the tang of the balsamic slightly offset by the sugar.....

Well there's only one way to portray it, this was dinner last night.
























I rest my case. Do try it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.